The invention relates to a fluid separator for dental aspiration apparatus.
The prior art in this field teaches dental apparatus which remove fluids from a patient's mouth during an operation. These fluids comprise a gaseous part and a liquid part. The gaseous part is generally air, while the liquid part is usually composed of water, organic liquids and other liquids used in dental apparatus. The gaseous part has to be separated from the liquid part before the latter is purified and ultimately discharged into the sewers. The prior art teaches separators for this purpose, which combine the action of a centrifuge drainage pump with that of a suction pump. In these separators the fluids which are to be separated are sent into the centrifuge pump; the suction pump creates a depression inside the centrifuge pump causing the gaseous part of the fluid to be aspirated by the suction pump, while the liquid part exits through an aperture afforded in the centrifuge pump. The prior art teaches separators, for example European publication EP 0 960 605 by the same applicant, in which the centrifuge pump and the suction pump are activated by separate motors.
The use of separate motors has solved some problems which can emerge during the halting stage and the restart stage of the plant. In particular, by use of timers for regulating the start-up of one motor in relation to the start-up of the other, it is possible to avoid infiltration of liquid into the suction pump. During operation of the plants sometime undesired events occur, such as, for example, excessive increase of outletting liquid pressure from the separator, with a consequent increase in the liquid level in the drainage pump and the possibility of aspiration of liquid by the suction pump, or a too-high operating temperature in the drainage pump, due both to excessive absorption of current by the motors and to an increase in ambient temperature to above admissible levels. In these cases it is often necessary to halt the plant, a step which is not at all appreciated by the users of the plants.
The main aim of the invention to obviate the above-mentioned drawbacks by providing a control device which enables an optimisation of the functioning parameters of the plant and obviates any undesired operating conditions, without having recourse to the need to shut the plant down.
An advantage of the invention is that it enables regulation, at a desired value, of the degree of depression produced by the suction pump, independently of the quantity of fluid aspirated, i.e. independently of the number of operators using the plant at the same time.
A further advantage of the invention is that it optimises the electrical power needed to operate the motors according to the demand placed by the users of the separator.
These aims and advantages and more besides are all attained by the present invention, as it is characterised in the appended claims.